History of the town

From the past to the present...

The district of today’s Žilina was first mentioned in a bill of the head of Nitra county, Thomas, under the name "terra de Selinan" (Land Žiliňany).

1312

The first mention of Žilina as a town.

1321

The King Charles I. Robert of Anjou granted the town trade privileges.

1357

The King Ludovic I. the Great granted the town a right to the annual markets.

1378

The Žilina Book started to be written (1378 – 1561).

1381

The King Ludovic I. the Great issued the document "Privilegium pro Slavis Solnensis".

1384

The Queen Mary issued a privilege on the basis of which Krupina became the appeal court authority of Žilina. At the same time Žilina became the appeal place for the villages operating under Žilina’s law.

15th - 16th century

Craftsmen began to organise guilds.

1405

The King Sigismund I. of Luxembourg granted the town the privilege of building its own walls.

1451

The first inscription written in the Slovak language in the Žilina Book.

1509

The burghers of Žilina (as the only town in Slovakia) redeemed themselves from a feudal relationship using their own resources.

17th -18th century

1610

The Žilina Synod, the most important event of Reformation in the territory of Slovakia, was held in the Church of the Holy Trinity.

1691

The town had to conclude an unfair contract with Paul Esterházy that prefigured economic stagnation in the town.

Repeated recatholisation in Žilina – the advent of Jesuits

19th century

1833

The Nitra Bishop Jozef Vurum founded an orphanage for children of victims of cholera in the former Monastery of Capuchins. Up to this day the building has been called "sirotár" (orphanage).

1849

In the Žilina market place, Ľudovít Štúr and Jozef Miloslav Hurban, members of the first Slovak National Council, called for the people to fight for the national interests of the Slovaks.

1870

The first test train from Tešín arrived in Žilina (Košice – Bohumín railway).

1891

Operation of a new cloth factory that significantly affected the town’s economy.

The Industrial Exhibition of Upper Hungary was held and influenced the future development of the entire Upper Váh Region (Horné Považie).

1911

Žilina becomes a city with an established magistrate.

12nd December 1918 - 2nd February 1919

The Ministry for the Administration of Slovakia was seated in Žilina. Žilina became the first seat of Slovak government and the capital of Slovakia.

6th October 1938

The convention of seven political parties in Žilina resulting in the Declaration of Independence of Slovakia.

30th April 1945

World War II. ends in Žilina.

1960

Žilina ceased to be the seat of the region. Žilina Region ceased to exist and was incorporated into the Banská Bystrica Region.

1960

In September, the University of Transportation was moved from Prague to Žilina. It was established in 1953 in Prague as a Railway college. In Žilina it had originally two faculties (Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transportation and Faculty of Mechanical-Electrical Engineering). In 1979 it was renamed the University of Transportation and Communications and in 1996 the University of Žilina. Moving the university to Žilina meant an important step in the education field. The school started to educate not only students but also their teachers. Many leading personalities of science and technology studied here. Its activity has considerably contributed to the development of the town and the region.